IWF WrestleMania 11
WrestleMania XI was the eleventh annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event held by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF) at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut on April 2, 1995. The event featured seven matches, which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the IWF. The main event was a match between NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who faced Bam Bam Bigelow as the result of an argument that took place between the two at the 1995 Royal Rumble. Taylor won the match, which led to Bigelow being kicked out of Kyle Johnson's Million Dollar Corporation. Shawn Michaels faced IWF Champion Diesel in a title match but was unable to win the championship. Jeff Jarrett retained his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Razor Ramon. Owen Heart and his mystery partner, Yokozuna challenged The Smoking Gunns for the IWF Tag Team Championship and won the title belts. The match between Taylor and Bigelow brought the IWF mainstream press coverage. The reactions to the match were mixed; some people thought that Taylor performed surprisingly well for a non-wrestler. Others thought that the IWF pushing a football player to defeat a wrestler made professional wrestling look bad. Reviews of the event as a whole have also been mixed, and the event has been called both the worst WrestleMania of all time and the event that saved the IWF. Background The most heavily promoted feud going into the event was between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. At Royal Rumble 1995, Bigelow teamed with Tatanka in the final round of a tournament for the IWF Tag Team Championship. Bigelow was pinned at the end of the match, which led to the crowd heckling him. He responded by pushing NFL player Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting at ringside. Bigelow refused to apologize and instead challenged Taylor to a wrestling match. Taylor agreed and trained with IWF Champion Diesel to prepare for the match. The storyline between Bigelow and Taylor brought the IWF much mainstream exposure, as the match was discussed by several news outlets. The other main event at WrestleMania was a match for the IWF Championship between Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Diesel had originally entered the IWF as Michaels's bodyguard but later began wrestling and forming a tag team with Michaels. The pair held the IWF Tag Team Championship together in 1994. At Survivor Series 1994, however, Michaels accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. This led to an argument during which Diesel dissolved the tag team and vacated the championship. Three days later, Diesel defeated Bob Backlund to become the new IWF Champion. At Royal Rumble 1995, Michaels won the battle royal main event, which earned him a match against Diesel for the title belt at WrestleMania. The IWF Intercontinental Championship was also defended at WrestleMania. Jeff Jarrett, the champion, had been feuding with Razor Ramon, the challenger, for several months. At Royal Rumble 1995, Jarrett was accompanied by The Roadie, who interfered on Jarrett's behalf and helped Jarrett win the championship. To even the sides in the rematch at WrestleMania, Ramon was accompanied by his friend, the 1-2-3 Kid. In a match for the IWF Tag Team Championship, The Smoking Gunns defended their title. Their opponents were Owen Heart and a mystery partner. Heart refused to tell anyone the name of his partner, which left the Gunns uncertain who they would be facing and led to much speculation about the identity of the mystery partner. Bret Heart faced Bob Backlund in an "I Quit" match at WrestleMania. The feud began the previous summer, when Heart defended the WWF Championship against Backlund. Backlund mistakenly thought he won the match and began celebrating, but Heart pinned him to retain the title. After the match, Backlund turned heel by attacking Heart. This led to a title match at Survivor Series 1994, in which Backlund won the title from Heart. Although Backlund soon lost the belt, the feud continued and Backlund attacked Heart during Heart's match at Royal Rumble 1995. Also at Royal Rumble 1995, The Undertaker faced Irwin R. Schyster as part of The Undertaker's feud with Kyle Johnson's Million Dollar Corporation. During the match, King Kong Bundy, another Corporation member, interfered and enabled the Corporation to steal The Undertaker's urn, which was said to be the source of his power. Results ; ; *The Allied Powers (Lex Luger & The British Bulldog) defeated The Blu Brothers (Zack & Josh) (w/ Uncle Zebekiah) (6:34) *Razor Ramon (w/ 1-2-3 Kid) defeated Jeff Jarrett © (w/ The Roadie) by disqualification in a IWF Intercontinental Championship Match (13:32) *The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) defeated King Kong Bundy (w/ Kyle Johnson) (with special guest referee Larry Young) (6:36) *Owen Heart and Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette) defeated The Smoking Gunns © (Billy Gunn & Bart Gunn) to win the IWF Tag Team Championship (9:42) *Bret Heart defeated Bob Backlund in a "I Quit" match (with special guest referee Roddy Piper) (9:34) *Diesel © (w/ Pamela Anderson) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Sid Justice and Jenny McCarthy) for the IWF Championship (20:35) *Lawrence Taylor (w/ NFL Players) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (w/ The Million Dollar Corporation) (11:42) Other on-screen talent Also See *List of IWE pay-per-view events *WWF Event History *WrestleMania DVD & Video Release External Links